Ahly's veteran midfielder Hossam Ashour made his 500th appearance with the club in all competitions when he was fielded as a substitute in the team's 2-1 league victory over Enppi at Petro Sport Stadium on Tuesday. Ashour, 32, made his debut with the Cairo giants at the age of 18 in a game against Tersana SC in 2004 after the club's former Portuguese tactician Manuel Jose picked him up from Ahly U19 to join the first team. The Ahly icon shone under Jose to prove he is one of the most outstanding midfielders of his generation and to impose himself as Ahly's midfield number-one choice since 2004. Ashour made 284 appearances with the Red Devils in the Egyptian league, 36 in the cup, 10 in the super cup, 154 in all African competitions, 11 in the FIFA Club World Cup as well as five appearances in the Zayed Champions Cup. The Egypt international won 11 league titles with Ahly, three cups, seven super cups in addition to winning the CAF Champions League five times, the CAF Super Cup five times and the CAF Confederation Cup one time. Ashour was also part of the Ahly team who won the FIFA Club World Cup's bronze medal in 2006 for the first time in the history of the Cairo side. No other African player has managed to win more titles than Ashour, and he is also the first player to reach the milestone of 500 appearances in Ahly's history. Despite a glorious career with Ahly, Ashour has not been lucky enough to be as effective with Egypt as he has been with his club, making a mere 14 appearances with the national team since his debut in 2008. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
